Royal Rumble match
The Royal Rumble match is a professional wrestling match based on the classic Battle Royal match, in which a number of wrestlers (traditionally 30) aim at eliminating their competitors by tossing them over the top rope, with both feet touching the floor.[1][2][3] The match is typically the main event of WWE's January pay-per-view known as the Royal Rumble. The winner of the event is the last wrestler remaining after all others have been eliminated.[1][4] According to Hornswoggle, who worked for WWE from 2006 until 2016 and participated in three Rumbles, participants may learn their eliminations by knowing the two wrestlers who are eliminated before them and which wrestlers are entering the Royal Rumble before and after their elimination.[5] According to CM Punk, who worked for WWE from 2005 until 2014, wrestlers are given a list of entry numbers and eliminations and are supposed to build the match from there.[6]
Contents
- 1 Concept
- 2 Prize
- 3 Dates, venues, and winners
- 4 Royal Rumble records
- 4.1 Males
- 4.1.1 Most Rumble victories
- 4.1.2 Most times being a Rumble runner-up
- 4.1.3 Winners by entry number
- 4.1.4 Longest time spent in a single Royal Rumble
- 4.1.5 Longest cumulative time spent in Royal Rumbles
- 4.1.6 Shortest time spent in a single Royal Rumble
- 4.1.7 Most eliminations in a single Royal Rumble
- 4.1.8 Total eliminations in cumulative Royal Rumbles
- 4.1.9 Most Rumble appearances
- 4.1.10 Female entrants in male Royal Rumbles
- 4.2 Females
- 4.1 Males
- 5 Other Royal Rumble matches
- 6 References
Concept
The Royal Rumble differs from the classical Battle Royal as the contestants do not enter the ring at the same time, but instead are assigned entry numbers, usually via a lottery, although desirable spots are occasionally assigned by other means, the most common being winning a match.[1] The match begins with the two wrestlers who have drawn entry numbers one and two, with the remaining wrestlers entering the ring at regular timed intervals, either 90 seconds or two minutes, according to their entry number.[1] This format is credited to Pat Patterson.[7] To date, only four men who have been one of the starting wrestlers have won the Royal Rumble: Shawn Michaels in 1995, Vince McMahon in 1999, Chris Benoit in 2004, and Rey Mysterio in 2006 while only three men who have been the final entrant won the Royal Rumble: The Undertaker in 2007, John Cena in 2008 and Triple H in 2016. The most common number to win is number 27.
The Royal Rumble match traditionally involves 30 wrestlers and usually lasts an hour. The Greatest Royal Rumble - the only one to have a 50-man field[8] was the longest, lasting one hour and 17 minutes of a five-hour pay-per-view, while the first televised Rumble match in 1988 involved only 20 men[9] and lasted 33 minutes of the two-hour broadcast.[10] The 1998 Royal Rumble nominally had the traditional 30-man field, but only 28 individual wrestlers competed; Mick Foley entered the Royal Rumble match three different times—first as Cactus Jack, then as Mankind, and finally as Dude Love.[11] The 2018 Royal Rumble was the first to include a women's Royal Rumble match,[12] contested under the same rules as the men's match, including having 30 participants.[13][14]
According to the rules, participants are match eliminated if moved over the top rope and both feet touch the floor. Hence, a wrestler who exits the ring without going over the top rope is not eliminated from the contest. For example, during the 1999 match, both Vince McMahon and Steve Austin left the ring, only to return later in the match.[15] Also, a wrestler who only touches the floor with one foot is not eliminated from the match, a rule which greatly affected the 1995 match, allowing Shawn Michaels to re-enter the ring and win the match. Kofi Kingston, who although has not won a match, has found various ways to keep at least one of his feet from touching the floor.[16] In the 1994 match, the last two participants, Bret Hart and Lex Luger, were declared co-winners when officials were unable to determine whose feet touched the floor first.[17] In a similar situation in 2005, when Batista and John Cena eliminated each other at the same time (an actual accident), the match was restarted.[18] Though various referees are charged with observing the match, some eliminations have gone unnoticed to allow the eliminated participants to sneak back into the ring to continue. Steve Austin was able to re-enter the ring in this way and win the 1997 match.[19]
Although the vast majority of eliminations are caused by active participants, eliminations caused by other means have been ruled legitimate, including self-eliminations (such as Andre the Giant after seeing a snake in 1989 or Kane in 1999; however, Randy Savage's jump over the top rope in 1992 was not ruled as self-elimination), elimination by previously-eliminated participants (such as The Undertaker eliminating Maven in 2002, Kurt Angle eliminating Shawn Michaels in 2005, Kane eliminating CM Punk in 2014, and The Wyatt Family eliminating Brock Lesnar in 2016), or non-participants (such as Shane McMahon eliminating Shawn Michaels in 2006 and The Miz eliminating John Cena in 2011). Furthermore, an injured wrestler can return to the ring as long as the match is still ongoing (such as Steve Austin in 1999 or Roman Reigns in 2016), but not if the match has already ended (such as Scotty 2 Hotty in 2005 or Curtis Axel in 2015).
Prize
Since 1993, the winner of the Royal Rumble match is traditionally awarded a title match for WWE's top championship at WrestleMania – presently, there are two top championships, the Universal Championship on Raw and the WWE Championship on SmackDown.[20] Similarly, the winner of the women's Royal Rumble match (first contested in 2018) is awarded a match at WrestleMania for either of WWE's top two women's championships, the Raw Women's Championship or the SmackDown Women's Championship.[12]
With the brand extension introduced in mid-2002, the 30 male entrants from 2003 to 2006 consisted of 15 wrestlers from both the Raw and SmackDown brands. At first, the winner of the match received a shot at their brand's top champion.[21] Starting in 2004, the Rumble winner had the option of challenging any brand's champion. For instance, Chris Benoit switched brands after winning the 2004 Royal Rumble and won the World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania XX.[20] From 2007 to 2010, participants from the ECW brand competed along with the Raw and SmackDown brands, with the ECW World Championship added as an option for the winner to challenge for, although no winners ever did.[22] During ECW's participation, the entries for each brand were not evenly divided.[23] The ECW Championship was deactivated in 2010, and the World Heavyweight Championship was unified into the WWE Championship in 2013, leaving the latter as the only title to challenge for until July 2016, when the brand extension returned. With the new brand extension, the winner of the 2017 event earned a match for their brand's top championship, Raw's Universal Championship or SmackDown's WWE Championship, but beginning in 2018, the winner has a choice. Conversely, beginning with the 2018 event, women receive a title opportunity of their choice for a women's championship: the Raw or SmackDown Women's Championship. Due to free agents, Hall of Famers, and wrestlers from the NXT brand also participating, there has not been an even division of wrestlers (in either the men's or women's Rumbles) between Raw and SmackDown since the second brand extension went into effect.
WWE's top championship has been booked as on the line during the Royal Rumble match on two occasions. In 1992, the vacant WWF World Heavyweight Championship was contested in the 1992 Royal Rumble match, eventually won by Ric Flair,[24] while in 2016, Roman Reigns was scheduled to defend his WWE World Heavyweight Championship as a participant of that year's Royal Rumble match and was entrant number one. This marked the first time that a reigning champion had to defend his title in the match, which was ultimately won by Triple H, who eliminated Reigns before lastly eliminating Dean Ambrose to win. Reigns would go on to earn a match against Triple H at WrestleMania 32 and won back the title.
From 2001 to 2007, the Royal Rumble match winner had gone on to win a world championship title at WrestleMania.[10] After winning the 2008 match, John Cena became the first winner to use his championship opportunity at an event (No Way Out 2008) other than WrestleMania.[25] He also became the first since The Rock in 2000 to win the Royal Rumble match but fail to win the title in his championship opportunity.
The Royal Rumble winner may also choose to put his championship opportunity on the line in a match. This was first done in 1996, when Shawn Michaels risked his WrestleMania XII title shot in a match against Owen Hart at In Your House 6. The second time was in 1999, when Stone Cold Steve Austin offered to forfeit his title opportunity to the Big Boss Man, who won third place in the Rumble (Austin was actually the runner-up in that rumble, but the winner, Vince McMahon himself, had voluntarily given up his title opportunity) if McMahon could beat him in a cage match at St. Valentine's Day Massacre: In Your House, which Austin would go on to win. The third time was in 2002, when Kurt Angle convinced Triple H to put his WrestleMania X8 championship spot on the line at No Way Out, a match which Angle won. However, Triple H would later defeat Angle and regain his WrestleMania championship spot. The fourth time was in 2006, when Randy Orton goaded Rey Mysterio into putting his main event spot at WrestleMania 22 on the line at No Way Out, a match which Orton won. Mysterio was eventually reinserted into the main event at WrestleMania, making it a triple threat match, and went on to win the World Heavyweight Championship. On the February 25, 2013, edition of Raw, John Cena successfully defended his WrestleMania 29 WWE Championship opportunity in a match against CM Punk. On February 22, 2015, at Fastlane, Roman Reigns defended his WrestleMania 31 WWE World Heavyweight Championship opportunity against Daniel Bryan.
In 2000, The Rock was declared the victor, as the storyline intended. However, it was later revealed that his feet had actually touched before those of the Big Show. A singles match was held at No Way Out, the event following the Royal Rumble, to determine who received the WrestleMania title shot against the reigning champion Triple H. Big Show won with the help of Shane McMahon. Rock then defeated Big Show in a rematch in March on Raw with the help of Vince McMahon, which earned him a title shot and converted the match at WrestleMania into a triple threat that was later made a four-way match when Linda McMahon inserted the recently retired Mick Foley into the match.
During the WWE Greatest Royal Rumble the winner received a trophy and the WWE Greatest Royal Rumble Championship.[26]
Dates, venues, and winners
Male Royal Rumble winner's championship opportunity
Championship | Wins | Losses | Total |
---|---|---|---|
WWE Championship | 9 | 8 | 17 |
World Heavyweight Championship | 5 | 2 | 7 |
Total | 14 | 10 | 24 |
- – WrestleMania victory
- – WrestleMania loss
Winner | Event | Year | Championship match | |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Yokozuna | WrestleMania IX | 1993 | Yokozuna defeated Bret Hart for the WWF World Heavyweight Championship. |
2 | Lex Luger | WrestleMania X | 1994 | Luger lost to Yokozuna by disqualification for the WWF World Heavyweight Championship. |
2 | Bret Hart | WrestleMania X | 1994 | Hart defeated Yokozuna for the WWF World Heavyweight Championship. |
3 | Shawn Michaels | WrestleMania XI | 1995 | Michaels lost to Diesel for the WWF World Heavyweight Championship. |
4 | Shawn Michaels | WrestleMania XII | 1996 | Michaels successfully defended his title shot against Owen Hart at In Your House 6. Michaels went on to defeat Bret Hart for the WWF World Heavyweight Championship. |
5 | Stone Cold Steve Austin | WrestleMania 13 | 1997 | Due to Austin re-entering the Rumble match because the officials did not see when he was thrown out of the ring, WWF President Gorilla Monsoon ruled that he would not be receiving the WrestleMania 13 title shot. A match in February was signed to determine who would receive it, but champion Shawn Michaels forfeiting the title changed those plans. The WrestleMania main event pitted The Undertaker against Sycho Sid. |
6 | Stone Cold Steve Austin | WrestleMania XIV | 1998 | Austin defeated Shawn Michaels for the WWF World Heavyweight Championship. |
7 | Mr. McMahon | WrestleMania XV | 1999 | The following night on Raw Is War, McMahon renounced his title opportunity to challenge then WWF Champion, The Rock, at WrestleMania. WWF Commissioner Shawn Michaels awarded the title opportunity to the runner-up, Stone Cold Steve Austin, who defeated McMahon in a steel cage match to retain his opportunity and would go on to WrestleMania to defeat The Rock for the WWF Championship. |
8 | The Rock | WrestleMania 2000 | 2000 | Video footage later showed Rock's feet hit the floor first before runner-up Big Show. After multiple attempts to name a rightful No. 1 contender failed, both The Rock and Big Show were added to the main event along with Mick Foley to challenge the champion Triple H. Triple H was able to successfully defend the WWF Championship in a four corner elimination match. |
9 | Stone Cold Steve Austin | WrestleMania X-Seven | 2001 | Austin defeated The Rock in a No Disqualification match for the WWF Championship. |
10 | Triple H | WrestleMania X8 | 2002 | Triple H lost his WrestleMania title shot to Kurt Angle at No Way Out. The following night on Raw, Triple H won his title shot back and would defeat Chris Jericho for the Undisputed WWF Championship. |
11 | Brock Lesnar | WrestleMania XIX | 2003 | As a member of the SmackDown brand, Lesnar earned a match for his brand's WWE Championship. At WrestleMania XIX, Lesnar defeated Kurt Angle for the WWE Championship. |
12 | Chris Benoit | WrestleMania XX | 2004 | Benoit won the Rumble as a SmackDown! wrestler, but switched to the Raw brand to challenge Triple H for the World Heavyweight Championship. He defeated Triple H and Shawn Michaels in a triple threat match for the World Heavyweight Championship. |
13 | Batista | WrestleMania 21 | 2005 | Batista defeated Triple H for the World Heavyweight Championship. |
14 | Rey Mysterio | WrestleMania 22 | 2006 | Mysterio lost his WrestleMania title shot to Randy Orton at No Way Out. SmackDown! General Manager Theodore Long later added Mysterio to the World Heavyweight Championship match at WrestleMania, making it a triple threat match. At WrestleMania 22, Mysterio defeated the champion Kurt Angle and Orton in a triple threat match to win the World Heavyweight Championship. |
15 | The Undertaker | WrestleMania 23 | 2007 | Undertaker defeated Batista for the World Heavyweight Championship. |
16 | John Cena | No Way Out (2008) WrestleMania XXIV |
2008 | Instead of waiting until WrestleMania, Cena used his WWE Championship shot at No Way Out against Randy Orton. Orton remained champion due to being disqualified. A triple threat match for the WWE Championship was held at WrestleMania XXIV, also including Triple H. Orton successfully retained. |
17 | Randy Orton | WrestleMania XXV | 2009 | Orton lost to Triple H for the WWE Championship. |
18 | Edge | WrestleMania XXVI | 2010 | Edge lost to Chris Jericho for the World Heavyweight Championship. |
19 | Alberto Del Rio | WrestleMania XXVII | 2011 | Del Rio lost to Edge for the World Heavyweight Championship. |
20 | Sheamus | WrestleMania XXVIII | 2012 | Sheamus defeated Daniel Bryan for the World Heavyweight Championship. |
21 | John Cena | WrestleMania 29 | 2013 | On the February 25 episode of Raw, Cena successfully defended his title shot against CM Punk. Cena went on to defeat The Rock for the WWE Championship. |
22 | Batista | WrestleMania XXX | 2014 | Daniel Bryan defeated Triple H in the opening match, with the winner being inserted into the WWE World Heavyweight Championship match. Bryan defeated the champion Randy Orton and Batista in a triple threat match. |
23 | Roman Reigns | WrestleMania 31 | 2015 | Reigns successfully defended his title shot at Fastlane against Daniel Bryan. Reigns went on to challenge Brock Lesnar for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania 31. During the match at WrestleMania, Seth Rollins cashed in his Money in the Bank contract, converting the singles match between Reigns and Lesnar into a triple threat match. Rollins pinned Reigns to win the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. |
24 | Randy Orton | WrestleMania 33 | 2017 | As a member of the SmackDown brand, Orton earned a match for his brand's WWE Championship. However, after his fellow Wyatt Family member Bray Wyatt won the championship at Elimination Chamber and retained it on the following SmackDown, Orton said he would not face Wyatt for the title at WrestleMania. On the February 28 episode of SmackDown, Orton reverted his decision and turned on Wyatt; the following week, he defeated AJ Styles, who had become the new number one contender for the title, to re-earn his title shot against Wyatt at WrestleMania. At the event, Orton defeated Wyatt for the WWE Championship. |
25 | Shinsuke Nakamura | WrestleMania 34 | 2018 | Nakamura lost to AJ Styles for the WWE Championship. |
Note: No WrestleMania title opportunity awarded in the 2016 Royal Rumble match as the WWE World Heavyweight Championship, held by Roman Reigns, itself was at stake. Triple H won the Royal Rumble match and lost his championship defense at WrestleMania to Reigns.
Female Royal Rumble winner's championship opportunity
Championship | Wins | Losses | Total |
---|---|---|---|
WWE SmackDown Women's Championship | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Total | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Winner | Event | Year | Championship match | |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Asuka | WrestleMania 34 | 2018 | Asuka lost to Charlotte Flair for the SmackDown Women's Championship. |
Royal Rumble records
Males
Most Rumble victories
Wrestler | Royal Rumble wins | Year |
---|---|---|
Stone Cold Steve Austin | 3 | 1997, 1998, 2001 |
Hulk Hogan | 2 | 1990, 1991 |
Shawn Michaels | 1995, 1996 | |
Triple H | 2002, 2016 | |
Batista | 2005, 2014 | |
John Cena | 2008, 2013 | |
Randy Orton | 2009, 2017 |
Most times being a Rumble runner-up
Wrestler | Times | Year |
---|---|---|
Roman Reigns | 3 | 2014, 2017, 2018 |
Big Show | 2 | 2000, 2004 |
Shawn Michaels | 1994, 2007 | |
Triple H | 2008, 2009 | |
John Cena | 2005, 2010 |
Winners by entry number
No | Wins | Year |
---|---|---|
27 | 4 | 1989, 1993, 1994, 2001 |
30 | 3 | 2007, 2008, 2016 |
24 | 1991, 1998, 2000 | |
19 | 2 | 2013, 2015 |
28 | 2005, 2014 | |
22 | 2002, 2012 | |
29 | 2003, 2010 | |
2 | 1999, 2006 | |
1 | 1995, 2004 | |
23 | 1994, 2017 | |
41 | 1 | GRR 2018 |
14 | 2018 | |
38 | 2011 | |
8 | 2009 | |
5 | 1997 | |
18 | 1996 | |
3 | 1992 | |
25 | 1990 | |
13 | 1988 |
Longest time spent in a single Royal Rumble
Top 20 individual longest times in a single Royal Rumble match. As of the 2018 Greatest Royal Rumble.
No | Wrestler | Time | Year |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Daniel Bryan | 1:16:05 | GRR 2018 |
2 | Rey Mysterio | 1:02:12 | 2006[103] |
3 | Chris Benoit | 1:01:31 | 2004[103] |
4 | Bob Backlund | 1:01:10 | 1993[103] |
5 | Triple H | 1:00:16 | 2006 |
6 | Chris Jericho | 1:00:13 | 2017 |
7 | Ric Flair | 1:00:02 | 1992[103] |
8 | Roman Reigns | 59:50 | 2016 |
9 | Finn Bálor | 57:30 | 2018 |
10 | Mr. McMahon | 56:38 | 1999 |
Stone Cold Steve Austin | 56:38 | 1999 | |
12 | Kane | 53:46 | 2001 |
13 | Rick Martel | 52:17 | 1991[103] |
14 | The Rock | 51:32 | 1998 |
15 | Chris Jericho | 50:50 | 2016 |
16 | Triple H | 50:00 | 2009 |
17 | Dolph Ziggler | 49:47 | 2013 |
18 | Rey Mysterio | 49:24 | 2009 |
19 | CM Punk | 49:11 | 2014 |
20 | Seth Rollins | 48:31 |
Note: bold indicates the winner of that year's match
Longest cumulative time spent in Royal Rumbles
Only wrestlers who have spent more than 3 cumulative hours are shown. As of the 2018 Greatest Royal Rumble.
Wrestler | Time |
---|---|
Chris Jericho | 4:59:18[104] |
Triple H | 4:00:02 |
Rey Mysterio | 3:49:50 |
Shawn Michaels | 3:42:30[104] |
Isaac Yankem/"Diesel"/Kane | 3:38:46 |
Randy Orton | 3:12:38 |
Cody Rhodes/Stardust | 3:08:30 |
Shortest time spent in a single Royal Rumble
Only wrestlers who spent 10 seconds or less in a single rumble are shown. As of the 2018 Greatest Royal Rumble.
Wrestler | Time | Year |
---|---|---|
Santino Marella | 0:00:01 | 2009[103] |
The Warlord | 0:00:02 | 1989[103] |
Sheamus | 2018 | |
Mo | 0:00:03 | 1995[103] |
Owen Hart | ||
Mike Kanellis | GRR 2018 | |
Bushwhacker Luke | 0:00:04 | 1991 |
Jerry Lawler | 1997 | |
Titus O'Neil | 2015 | |
The Godfather | 0:00:05 | 2013[103] |
Gillberg | 0:00:07 | 1999 |
The Miz | 2007 | |
Montel Vontavious Porter | 2010 | |
Adam Rose | 0:00:08 | 2015 |
Tazz | 0:00:10 | 2001 |
Non-eliminated wrestlers
Several times, wrestlers were drawn to compete in the match but did not actually compete. Their participation is counted as zero seconds, with the exception of #6 Hornswoggle:
- In 1991, "Macho King" Randy Savage was drawn 18th, but no-showed due to leaving the building after costing Ultimate Warrior the WWF Championship against Sgt. Slaughter.
- In 1994, Bastion Booger was drawn 25th, but no-showed due to suffering food poisoning before the match.
- In 1998, Skull was drawn 22nd, but no-showed due to being attacked by Los Boricuas after being mistaken for Stone Cold Steve Austin.
- In 2004, Spike Dudley was drawn 13th, but was attacked on the ramp by Kane.
- In 2005, Scotty 2 Hotty was drawn 15th, but was attacked on the ramp by Muhammad Hassan.
- In 2008, Hornswoggle was drawn 9th and eliminated The Miz, however he wasn't brought into the ring until towards the end of the match by Mark Henry and was saved by Finlay, who was drawn 27th, and escorted to the back and never re-entered the match. Finlay would later be disqualified after coming out before his number came up and using his shillelagh to help Hornswoggle.
- In 2015, Curtis Axel was drawn 6th, but was attacked on the ramp by Erick Rowan. Unlike other occasions, this was notable for actually being worked into a gimmick for Axel, where he began to imitate Hulk Hogan and wear shirts emblazoned with "AxelMania" and claim that he was never eliminated from the Royal Rumble, therefore he won it, deserving a spot in the main event of WrestleMania.
Wrestlers who had their number stolen or were replaced
Several times, wrestlers were drawn to compete and were instead either attacked backstage or pulled from the match at the last minute, and replaced by other wrestlers.
- In 1999, Mosh was drawn 11th, but was attacked by Mabel, who took Mosh's spot.
- In 2001, the team of Lo Down (Chaz and D'Lo Brown) defeated Kaientai (Funaki and Taka Michinoku) to earn one entrance spot in the Royal Rumble match, but that was later overturned by Vince McMahon who entered Drew Carey in their spot.
- In 2004, Test was drawn 21st, but was attacked by Mick Foley, who took Test's spot.
- In 2005, Nunzio was drawn 20th, but had his spot stolen by Kurt Angle before the match, Angle then challenged Nunzio to fight for the spot.
- In 2018, Tye Dillinger was drawn 10th, but was attacked by Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn, the latter of whom took Dillinger's spot.
Most eliminations in a single Royal Rumble
Top wrestlers with most eliminations in a single match. Only wrestlers with at least six eliminations are shown. As of the 2018 Greatest Royal Rumble.
Wrestler | No. of eliminations | Year |
---|---|---|
Braun Strowman | 13 | GRR 2018 |
Roman Reigns | 12 | 2014[105] |
Kane | 11 | 2001[103][106] |
Hulk Hogan | 10 | 1989[103][107] |
Stone Cold Steve Austin | 1997[103][108] | |
Shawn Michaels | 8 | 1995, 1996 |
Stone Cold Steve Austin | 1999 | |
Hulk Hogan | 7 | 1991 |
Yokozuna | 1993 | |
Diesel | 1994 | |
Stone Cold Steve Austin | 1998, 2002 | |
Rikishi | 2000 | |
The Undertaker | 2002 | |
The Great Khali | 2007 | |
CM Punk | 2011 | |
John Cena | ||
Braun Strowman | 2017 | |
One Man Gang | 6 | 1988 |
Hulk Hogan | 1990 | |
The Ultimate Warrior | ||
Sid Justice | 1992 | |
Lex Luger | 1994 | |
Chris Jericho | 2003 | |
Chris Benoit | 2004 | |
Rey Mysterio | 2006 | |
Triple H | 2006, 2008, 2009 | |
Big Show | 2009 | |
Shawn Michaels | 2010 | |
Cody Rhodes | 2012 | |
Bray Wyatt | 2015 | |
Roman Reigns | ||
Rusev |
Total eliminations in cumulative Royal Rumbles
Top wrestlers with the most eliminations. Only wrestlers with at least 20 eliminations are shown. As of the 2018 Greatest Royal Rumble.[109]
Wrestler | No. of eliminations | Rumbles entered |
---|---|---|
Isaac Yankem/"Diesel"/Kane | 44 | 19[103][110][111] |
Shawn Michaels | 40 | 12[112][113] |
The Undertaker | 11 | |
The Ringmaster/Stone Cold Steve Austin | 36 | 6[103] |
Triple H | 33 | 9 |
Big Show | 31 | 12 |
Roman Reigns | 30 | 5 |
Hulk Hogan | 27 | 4 |
Randy Orton | 25 | 10 |
John Cena | 8 | |
Braun Strowman | 3 |
Most Rumble appearances
Only wrestlers with at least 10 appearances are shown. As of the 2018 Greatest Royal Rumble.
Wrestler | Rumbles entered | First Rumble | Most recent Rumble |
---|---|---|---|
Isaac Yankem/"Diesel"/Kane | 19 | 1996 | 2016 |
Goldust | 13 | 1997 | GRR 2018 |
Shawn Michaels | 12 | 1989 | 2010 |
Big Show | 2000 | 2017 | |
The Miz | 11 | 2007 | 2018 |
The Undertaker | 1991 | 2017 | |
Chris Jericho | 2000 | GRR 2018 | |
Kofi Kingston | 2009 | ||
Dolph Ziggler | |||
The Sultan/Fatu/Rikishi | 10 | 1993 | 2004 |
Female entrants in male Royal Rumbles
Wrestler | Rumbles entered |
---|---|
Chyna | 2 (1999, 2000)[51][54] |
Beth Phoenix^ | 1 (2010)[82] |
Kharma | 1 (2012) |
^Only wrestler to appear in both the male and female Royal Rumbles.
Females
Longest time spent in a single Royal Rumble
As of 2018, there has been only one women's Royal Rumble; the top ten times are shown.
No | Wrestler | Time | Year |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Sasha Banks | 54:46 | 2018 |
2 | Becky Lynch | 30:54 | |
3 | Natalya | 25:34 | |
4 | Asuka | 19:41 | |
5 | Carmella | 18:45 | |
6 | Nia Jax | 17:56 | |
7 | Nikki Bella | 16:30 | |
Sarah Logan | |||
9 | Brie Bella | 11:58 | |
10 | Ruby Riott | 11:32 |
Note: bold indicates the winner of that year's match
Shortest time spent in a single Royal Rumble
As of 2018, there has been only one women's Royal Rumble; the top ten times are shown.
No | Wrestler | Time | Year |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Vickie Guerrero | 00:57 | 2018 |
2 | Tamina | 01:34 | |
3 | Jacqueline | 01:52 | |
4 | Beth Phoenix | 02:22 | |
5 | Lana | 02:54 | |
6 | Dana Brooke | 02:59 | |
7 | Torrie Wilson | 03:04 | |
8 | Mandy Rose | 03:52 | |
9 | Molly Holly | 04:04 | |
10 | Kairi Sane | 04:49 |
Most eliminations in a single Royal Rumble
Only wrestlers with at least three eliminations are shown.
Wrestler | No. of eliminations | Year |
---|---|---|
Michelle McCool | 5 | 2018 |
Nia Jax | 4 | |
Nikki Bella | ||
Sasha Banks | 3 | |
Asuka | ||
Natalya | ||
Trish Stratus |
Note: bold indicates the winner of that year's match
Other Royal Rumble matches
WWE has booked several Royal Rumble matches outside of the annual Royal Rumble event:
- The very first Royal Rumble match took place at a house show in St. Louis, Missouri on October 4, 1987 where the One Man Gang won a 12-Man Royal Rumble, last eliminating the Junkyard Dog, to earn a WWF World Heavyweight Championship match against Hulk Hogan at the following month's St. Louis house show.
- A 20-man Royal Rumble match took place at a house show in Hartford, Connecticut on March 16, 1988 where Ravishing Rick Rude was the winner.
- A 30-man Royal Rumble on January 17, 1994 at Madison Square Garden was won by Owen Hart, last eliminating Fatu.
- An 18-man Royal Rumble match took place on May 9, 1994 in Osaka, Japan and was won by The Undertaker who last eliminated Bam Bam Bigelow.
- There was a Tag Team Royal Rumble on the June 15, 1998 episode of Raw Is War. Kane and Mankind won the match and earned an opportunity for the WWF Tag Team Championship against The New Age Outlaws.
- On January 11, 1999, a "Corporate Royal Rumble" involving members of The Corporation and D-Generation X was held on Raw to determine the 30th entry in the Royal Rumble that year. The match was won by Chyna, who last eliminated Mr. McMahon.
- A 15-man Royal Rumble was held during the January 29, 2004, edition of SmackDown to crown a contender for Brock Lesnar's WWE Championship at No Way Out. Eddie Guerrero won the match, last eliminating Kurt Angle.
- On January 14, 2008, Mr. McMahon organized a mini-Royal Rumble, involving midget wrestlers. Hornswoggle won the match.
- On the January 31, 2011, episode of Raw, a Royal Rumble to crown the contender for The Miz's WWE Championship at Elimination Chamber was held. Jerry Lawler won the match, last eliminating Sheamus.
- At Royal Rumble 2018, WWE aired an advert for KFC in the form of a 9-man "KFC Colonel Rumble", segments of which had been filmed as a dark match at a SmackDown taping two weeks prior. Ric Flair won, last eliminating The Miz.
Event | Date | City | Venue | Winner | Ref. | Note | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | House show | October 4, 1987 | St. Louis, MO | St. Louis Arena | One Man Gang | [114][115] | 12-man Royal Rumble |
2 | House show | March 16, 1988 | Hartford, CT | Hartford Civic Center | Rick Rude | [116][117] | 20-man Royal Rumble |
3 | House show | January 17, 1994 | New York City | Madison Square Garden | Owen Hart | [118] | 30-man Royal Rumble |
4 | House show | May 9, 1994 | Osaka, Japan | Castle Hall | The Undertaker | [118] | 18-man Royal Rumble |
5 | Raw | June 15, 1998 | San Antonio, Texas | Freeman Coliseum | Kane and Mankind | [118] | 10-tag team Royal Rumble |
6 | Raw | January 11, 1999 | Houston | Compaq Center | Chyna | [118] | 10-man Corporation vs. DX "Corporate Rumble", for the #30 spot in the 1999 Royal Rumble |
7 | SmackDown! | January 29, 2004 | Washington, D.C. | MCI Center | Eddie Guerrero | [119] | 15-man SmackDown! Royal Rumble to determine the #1 contender for the WWE Championship at No Way Out |
8 | Raw | January 14, 2008 | Mobile, Alabama | Mobile Civic Center | Hornswoggle | [120] | Mini Royal Rumble; 6-man, all participants were midget wrestlers, with the exception of The Great Khali. |
9 | Raw | January 31, 2011 | Providence, Rhode Island | Dunkin' Donuts Center | Jerry Lawler | [121] | 7-man Raw Rumble to determine the #1 contender for the WWE Championship at Elimination Chamber |
10 | Royal Rumble (2018) | January 28, 2018 | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | Wells Fargo Center | Ric Flair | [122][123] | KFC Colonel Rumble (9-man)[other 1] |
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References
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- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 20.0 20.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 51.0 51.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 54.0 54.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 82.0 82.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Royal Rumble (2015)#Results
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 102.0 102.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 103.00 103.01 103.02 103.03 103.04 103.05 103.06 103.07 103.08 103.09 103.10 103.11 103.12 103.13 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 104.0 104.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 118.0 118.1 118.2 118.3 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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